Meatball & Sausage Lasagna

This lasagna recipe features homemade meatballs and Italian sausage, layered with a delicious ricotta mixture, some yummy mozzarella cheese and a tasty marinara sauce. It delivers a comforting, homemade flavor profile that makes every serving fabulous! This is THE lasagna recipe that will never disappoint.

 

 

2.5 hours/moderate/10 servings

nutrition per serving:

429 calories, 22g protein, 38g carbs, 21g fat, 3g sugar

 

This lasagna recipe is worth the time and is worth the TASTE!

I love lasagna. I think it’s the Italian food, the pasta, the meat sauce, the cheese… the combo of all these wonderful ingredients, baked together to perfection. Ok, it’s ALL of it.  It’s actually a decadent dish that hits the heart and soul!

 

 

ingredients

 

  • 12 medium sized meatballs (recipe HERE)
  • 6 medium sized sausage links
  • 1 32 oz. jar/can of tomato sauce (or make your own! My recipe is HERE)
  • 1 (15 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
  • 3 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon of dry parsley
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese – divided
  • 2 cups whole milk Ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese 
  • 1 large egg
  •  12-15 lasagna noodles

 

directions

 

  1. Assemble the meatballs! You can use store-bought meatballs, but making grandma meatballs makes this recipe sing! Check out my meatball recipe HERE.
  2. Warm up the tomato sauce in a dutch oven – I use Raos marinara sauce but you can use any sauce you like OR you can make your own! My homemade sauce recipe is HERE. Most of us don’t have all day to make dinner most days, so Raos makes a fabulous sauce that moves this recipe right along.
  3. Place the Italian sausage links and the meatballs into the sauce, making sure that the meatballs are covered with sauce. Do not stir things too much – you don’t want the meatballs to fall apart.

 

 

 

4. Let the meatballs and sausage cook in the sauce on low for about an hour.
5. Remove the meatballs and sausage and set aside to cool. Turn off the sauce to cool as well.

 

6. Get your pasta water boiling!
7. While that is ramping up, time to assemble your ricotta mixture:
In a large bowl, add 1 cup of the mozzarella, the ricotta, ¼ cup parmesan, 1 tablespoon of parsley, the egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, and ½ teaspoon basil. (Taste and adjust your ingredients to taste!) Stir well.
8. Cook your lasagna noodles al dente, according to the directions on the package.
9. Now that you have a moment, break up the meatballs and the sausage to a similar crumbed consistency. You can use forks. If you have thick casings on the sausage links, cut them off first, then crumble the meat.
10. Mix the meatballs and the sausage crumbles together.

 

11. Now is the time to preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
12. Assemble the lasagna:
  • In a 13×9 inch baking dish, add a very thin layer the crushed tomatoes. I just pour a bit out of the can and smooth out the crushed tomatoes to make a nice bottom layer on the bottom of the dish.
  • Layer 3-4 lasagna noodles, 1/3rd of the ricotta mixture, 1/3rd of the crumbled meatballs and sausage and then the marinara sauce. (Save some sauce for the top layer!) Repeat the layers twice. Make sure each layer is about the same amount of goods.

 

  • Add a final layer of lasagna noodles, meatball and sausage crumble, sauce, 1 cup (at least) of mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup of parmesan cheese.

 

13. Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Tip: spray the underside of the foil with non-stick spray so the cheese doesn’t stick to the foil!
14. Bake the lasagna for 45 minutes.
15. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes.
16. Remove lasagna from the oven and let cool.
17. Cut the lasagna into big portions, serve it up and eat it! 

 

 

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